#20: “Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X” by Francis Bacon – Hirshhorn Museum, D.C.
This screaming Pope image shocked mid-century audiences with its violence and psychological intensity. Bacon reimagined the Baroque papal portrait through the lens of postwar anxiety, creating a ghostly, tormented figure. Though the Pope remains seated, he seems caged and consumed. The Church never officially responded, but public discomfort was immediate and lasting.
